In response to a statement issued by OGRA maintaining that Unaccounted for Gas (UFG) occurring in the SSGCL system is twice the OGRA specified target of 4.5 percent, SSGCL has clarified for the information of all concerned that current actual UFG of its domestic and small commercial customers is estimated at about 4 times the OGRA specified target while for other customers it is half of the OGRA specified target.
SSGCL has pointed out that UFG figures are given in its actual accounts which gives the region-wise UFG in percentage terms. SSGCL believes that UFG mainly results from socio-economic factors, saline soil conditions and third party damages/tampering which translates into higher UFG in its distribution system for domestic and small commercial customers. If SSGCL is allowed to take decisions on pure commercial considerations, the UFG can be brought down below the OGRA specified target.
SSGCL maintains that according to the Chicago Gas Institute UFG of 1 percent to 3 percent is considered low, 4 percent to 6 percent is considered reasonable and above 6 percent is considered excessive. SSGCL can bring down the UFG to ideal levels if it can take decisions on commercial basis which unfortunately cannot be done because it will adversely affect the poor sections of our society.
It further maintains that the Government of Pakistan is currently providing a subsidy of over Rs 200 per MMBTU for small domestic consumers and the Fertiliser Sector while SSGCL suffers a loss of about Rs 75 per MMBTU before return on assets for each MMBTU supplied to domestic and small commercial customers which translates into a loss of about Rs 7.5 billion per year for SSGCL while OGRA only allows 'UFG and RETURN ON ASSETS' of about Rs 5.7 billion resulting in a shortfall of Rs 1.8 billion.
In addition, subsidy by the government to small domestic customers runs over into hundred billion rupees which is partly covered through higher tariffs from other categories of customers. Even the gas tariffs charged from other categories is about three times less than the cost of other alternative fuels like diesel, furnace oil and petrol etc.
While SSGCL is endeavouring its best to reduce UFG, it has clarified that UFG is not a new phenomenon and was prevalent in the 1980s and 1990s also. The average UFG in the 1990s was around 7 percent to 8.5 percent. However, it is no excuse and SSGCL has embarked upon a plan to reduce UFG. It is to be understood that UFG in volume terms can only be reduced by effective measures from all stakeholders including the Provincial Government. Gas Theft and Third Party Damages/tampering can only be checked trough effective co-operation by the law enforcement agencies with SSGCL.
SSGCL has pointed out that as the demand for gas from domestic and small commercial customer's increases and the gas supply remains almost stagnant, the UFG in percentage terms will continue to remain under pressure. An improvement in the gas supply position can have a favourable impact on UFG in percentage terms.-PR
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